VOTED: that, there be entered into with Polaris Library Systems, P.O. Box 4903, Syracuse, NY 13221, the most responsive and responsible bidder, a contract for Upgrading the Software and Components of the Boston Public Library's Integrated Library System, for the period April 2, 2012 through April 1, 2015, at a total cost not to exceed $1,100,824. The Boston Public Library Evaluation Committee performed an evaluation of the proposals presented by two vendors as described in the Request for Proposals (RFP), and through this process determined the proposal presented by Polaris Library Systems represented the most advantageous proposal for the Boston Public Library.

A meeting of the Trustees Finance and Audit Committee was held at the Boston Public Library, Trustees Room, Johnson Building, 700 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02116 on Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 8:00 a.m.

The Chair addressed the first item of business, pertaining to the Minutes of the Trustees Finance and Audit Committee Meeting held on Tuesday, January 5, 2012. On a motion made and duly seconded, the Minutes of the Trustees Finance and Audit Committee meeting held on January 12, 2012 were approved and subsequently posted on the Boston Public Library’s web site at www.bpl.org.

The Chair addressed the next agenda item on discussion and vote on the Integrated Library System (ILS) contract and called on Mr. David Leonard, Mr. Ed Maheigan and Mr. Clayton Cheever to provide background and an overview of the contract. Mr. Maheigan drew Committee members’ attention to the January 26, 2012 correspondence from the City of Boston Law Department that affirms the vote of the Trustees of the Public Library of the City of Boston at their January 10, 2012 meeting to delegate the decision to “approved a contract or contract(s) to purchase software, to purchase hardware, and to purchase consulting services for the Integrated Library System (ILS) to the Trustees Finance and Audit Committee.”

Mr. Maheigan reviewed the three proposals that were received in a timely manner for the ILS Request for Proposals (RFP) and that were reviewed by the BPL Evaluation Committee (Evaluation Committee). The review of all proposals was identical and after review of each proposal, Innovative Interfaces was eliminated for not meeting the minimum evaluation criteria, Polaris Library Systems (Polaris) was rated Advantageous and Sirsi/Dynix was rated Not Advantageous for not meeting specific requirements of the RFP. The next step in the process was to open the price proposals: Polaris $865,575.00 and Sirsi/Synix $714,092. Based on the rating of Advantageous and for providing the best value and being the most advantageous overall for the BPL, the recommendation of the Evaluation Committee was to Polaris. Approval of the vendor with a higher rating and having a higher cost is allowed under the rules of the procurement laws for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Mr. Maheigan noted that the identical additional options based on the RFP requirements were requested by the BPL of each of the two vendors, and subsequently added to the price after the RFP’s were reviewed. Total costs with the additional options are: Polaris $1,100,824 and Sirsi/Dynix $728,542. Mr. Maheigan reported that the total budget for this part of the project is $2 million.

Mr. Leonard and Mr. Cheever reviewed the New Integrated Library System Recommendation – Executive Summary, 2/9/12 of the process timeline, process review, pricing, scoring and recommendations, evaluation and Polaris’s options included in the recommendation for purchase. The process included demonstrations by the two finalists to clarify items in the RFP, not to add new information. Based on an identical scoring process Polaris received a strong recommendation coming out of that process and received a Highly Advantageous score. The Evaluation Committee then reviewed the price proposals and determined that although Polaris’s price proposal was higher, the proposal would provide a better value to the BPL overall. The review process involved: an Evaluation Committee of ten voting members and one non-voting member; advisory participants of up to forty BPL staff and MBLM members; a weighted scoring matrix based on the requirements of the RFP; and, much discussion within the Evaluation Committee the result of which is the Highly Advantageous recommendation of Polaris. Mr. Leonard reviewed the Score and Recommendation of high level categories for which each proposal was rated reflecting the core operating areas and system of the BPL, and reviewed the percentages, for which Polaris outscored Sirsi/Dynix and all but one category, and one which was a tie. Mr. Leonard reported that the categories and the percentage of total weight for each was determined by the Evaluation Committee prior to looking at the proposals, each individual member of the Evaluation Committee did their own scoring, and these numbers are the rolled up numbers of the Committee as a whole.

Discussion followed. The Evaluation Committee included representatives from training, circulation, cataloguing, collection development, applications, Boston Public Schools, web services, the Director of Library Services, Mr. Cheever, and Mr. Leonard, plus the non-voting member was a representative from Fisher College. Mr. Leonard reviewed the scoring methodology scale from the least advantageous to the most advantageous. Mr. Cheever explained that there was additional weighting within each category with the authors of each section who are the experts in their specific area determining the most important components in their section and then determined which should get the most weight within their section. The ten voting members of the Evaluation Committee voted on the scoring. Mr. Maheigan explained that the evaluation categories are standard, Commonwealth of Massachusetts language. Mr. Leonard provided further information on the difference between the options; a lower rating was scored because the Evaluation Committee determined that certain items would not fully meet the requirements and raised the possibility that additional services would be required at a later time. The Evaluation Committee further determined that other items that were not provided may add to the cost at a later time. Discussion followed on the options and the Chair underscored the importance that the evaluation was purely on the content rather than the options. Mr. Leonard clarified that the Core Proposal costs include vendor travel to the BPL, and the first two years of support service costs, plus additional costs such as data migration and other services. The Committee requested additional detail on the options. Mr. Leonard reported that hardware is not part of the contract and is covered with City of Boston funds and part of the $2.5 million allocation for the ILS. Additional network infrastructure is included in the original $2.5 million budget. Network peripherals have been accounted for. The implementation date based on BPL and MBLN requirements for the most aggressive timeline with a go-live date of December 2012; the alternate window is a go-live date of August 2013 each based on timing with the least interruption to the operations of the BPL. The implementation would be staged in pre and post go-lives dates with the provision that there is a limit to the amount of staggering, and with the core implementation followed by the options.

On a motion made and duly seconded, it was

Voted: that, there be entered into with Polaris Library Systems, P.O. Box 4903, Syracuse, NY 13221, the most responsive and responsible bidder, a contract for Upgrading the Software and Components of the Boston Public Library’s Integrated Library System, for the period April 2, 2012 through April 1, 2015, at a total cost not to exceed $1,100,824. The Boston Public Library Evaluation Committee performed an evaluation of the proposals presented by two vendors as described in the Request for Proposals (RFP), and through this process determined the proposal presented by Polaris Library Systems represented the most advantageous proposal for the Boston Public Library.

The Chair addressed the next agenda item on an update on the IRS Form 990. Mr. Sean Monahan continues to review the draft federal IRS Form 990 with the auditors. The BPL is on the second extension with a due date of May 15, 2012. Mr. Monahan provided a copy of the form containing any reference to the Trustees, senior management, and the top five paid consultants. Mr. Monahan reviewed the document with the Committee and Chair Arana-Ortiz noted that her first name is misspelled. Mr. Monahan will correct this. Also distributed was a draft of the State Form PC requesting similar information to the federal Form 990. Mr. Monahan will correct the spelling of Chair Arana-Ortiz’s first name on this document as well. The completed form in its entirety will be sent to each Trustee in the near future for their review; the Trustees do not need to sign the Form 990 however they are required to vote to accept the Form 990. This will occur at either the Trustees March 13, 2012 or the Annual Meeting on May 8, 2012. The final report will be posted on the BPL webpage.

Mr. Monahan provided an update on the June 30, 2011 BPL Management Letter. Mr. Monahan will draft a Management Letter with the BPL prioritized items which will be sent to the Committee in advance of the next meeting. Mr. Monahan reviewed six new comments and eight recurring comments within the Management Letter.
The Committee approved the next meeting dates of March 1, 2012 at 8:00 a.m. in the Johnson Trustees Room. Trustee Arenas will not be able to attend. The subsequent meeting is scheduled for April 19, 2012 at 8:00 a.m. in the Johnson Trustees Room.

There being no further business, the Trustees Finance and Audit Committee adjourned at 8:40 a.m.